How Does Calpurnia Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Part One of Harper Lee’s commended American novel To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), the rabid dog that roams Maycomb’s streets and the town’s perceptions of the dog are direct symbols for the varying degrees of racism that pervades small town life. Maycomb, a small Southern community, is chock full of conscious bias and racism. One day, a dog named Tim Johnson is discovered by the narrator, Scout, and her brother Jem, to be rabid. Throughout the chapter, Tim Johnson becomes increasingly fitting as a symbol of racism in this novel. Calpurnia, the Finch’s African American maid, proclaims: “I know it’s February, Miss Eula May, but I know a mad dog when I see one. Please ma’am hurry!” (Lee 153). It seems fitting that Calpurnia, the only major character

Moreover, Calpurnia’s confidence in her identification of rabies, and therefore racism, is demonstrated with the repetition of the word “know”, which furthermore illustrates Calpurnia’s abilty to recognize rabies and the extended metaphor of racism. Next, after Tim Johnson is shot and killed, Atticus, the narrator’s father, states: “Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive” (159). Atticus’s words reflect his views on racism: the danger never truly dies or goes away. Even when the original generation of slaveholders died off, the hateful and damaging race-based power dynamic they created lives

Similarly, some members of the town refuse to accept the prevalence of racism. First, Miss Stephanie Crawford refuses to admit that Tim Johnson is rabid: “Maybe he wasn't mad, maybe he was just crazy... Bet he was just full of fleas from somewhere—” (160). Though not obvious at first glance, Miss Stephanie’s words reflect her prejudice. By refusing to accept her own personal biases, she extends the damage that racial bigotry brings. Through the repetition of “wasn’t” and the word “just,” Miss Stephanie attempts to justify Tim Johnson’s rabies in the same way people attempt to justify deep-seated racism. Unlike Miss Stephanie, Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb, is willing to accept that the dog is rabid, but can’t bring himself to do anything about it. Lee writes: “Mr. Tate almost threw the rifle at Atticus. ‘I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now,’ he said” (157). While Mr. Tate agrees that killing the dog is necessary, he can’t bring himself to do it. Mr. Tate is more comfortable being a bystander which is comparable to how many are incapable of standing up in situations of racial prejudice. The use of the word “throw” shows how uneasy Mr. Tate is in standing up to and stopping the rabid dog, in perhaps the same way he is uncomfortable standing up to racism. Thus, there are obviously a multitude of reactions to the